Supports for acoustic tile



Sept. 5, 1967 l I 3,339,331

SUPPORTS FOR ACOUSTIC TILE Original Filed July 24, 1961 INVENTOR. PAUL0. DA IL ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 4.

Patented Sept. 5, 1967 3,339,331 SUPPORTS FOR ACOUSTIC TILE Paul D.Dail, San Diego, Calif., assignor to Crownco of San Diego, San Diego,Calif., a corporation of California Continuation of application Ser. No.126,298, July 24, 1961. This application May 24, 1965, Ser. No. 465,2332 Claims. (Cl. 52496) The present invention is a continuation of mycopending application Ser. No. 126,298 filed July 24, 1961, nowabandoned, and relates to sound absorbing type ceiling construction forbuildings and more particularly to ceilings constructed of soundabsorbing tile.

Usually, a ceiling of the above type is supported by a plurality ofparallelly arranged runners which runners are supported from the roof orother ceiling structure thereabove. In practicing the present invention,each of the runners includes a pair of vertically extending side walls.Each of these runners is provided with flanges forming shoulders whichextend outwardly from the opposite elongated lower ends of the sidewalls. The opposite edges of sound absorbing tiles are rabbetted to formdownwardly facing shoulders which rest on the shoulders of adjacentrunners.

Each of the runners includes a second pair of flanges forming shoulderswhich extend inwardly from the lower ends of the side walls; theconfronting edges of the second mentioned flanges are spaced from oneanother. The second mentioned shoulders of a runner support elongatedsound absorbing strips in such fashion that the planar underside surfacelies flush with the planar underside surfaces of the tile. The sideedges of the strips extend to adjacent the lower side edges of thetiles.

The advantages will be apparent from'the following description,reference being bad to the accompanying drawing wherein a preferredembodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, showing one form of theimproved ceiling construction; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a fragment of a section of a runnershown in FIG. 4.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the ceiling comprises aplurality of parallelly arranged runners 132 and sound absorbing tile24. The runner is formed preferably, of extruded material, such asextruded aluminum or aluminum alloy. It, being elongated, is providedwith two elongated, longitudinally extending flanges, forming upwardlyfacing shoulders 140 and 142. These shoulders lie in the same plane andare parallel of one another and extend outwardly, respectively of theside walls 152 and 154.

The side walls are connected with one another by a web 155. The upperends of these side walls extend inwardly and then downwardly, as at 156and 158, to form downwardly facing shoulders 160. These shoulders restupon spring clips 162 and these clips are carried by the channel iron70, which latter are supported through wires (not shown) from the roofor ceiling of a building.

The tiles 24 are formed of sound absorbing material and the oppositeedges of each of these tiles are rabbetted as shown at 44 to formdownwardly facing shoulders 46 and 48, and these shoulders rest upon theshoulders 140 and 142 of the runners.

The lower ends of the runner 132 are provided with flanges formingshoulders 18-8 and 190 which extend toward one another. These shoulders188 and 190 lie in the same plane as and are arranged parallelly ofshoulders and 142. The confronting edges of shoulders 188 and 190 arespaced from one another.

The sound absorbing section 133 includes an elongated strip or strips ofsound absorbing material preferably the same material as the tile 24.The opposite upper edges thereof are rabbetted as at 192. The oppositeedges of the narrowed upper portion of the strip are each provided witha kerf 194 in the form of a slot. Each of these slots 194 receives asupporting means in the form of a strip of material, such as a strip ofsheet metal 196. This sheet metal strip rests upon the shoulders 188 and190.

The rabbetting of the strip 133 is of such depth that when the strip 133is supported on the shoulders 188 and 190 through the supporting means196, the planar under side of the strip lies flush with the planar underside of tiles 24. Thus in this aspect of the invention, the entireceiling is in the form of insulating material, and, in some instances ismore pleasing to the eye than the combination of sound absorbing tilewith metal strips therebetween.

While the form of embodiment herein shown and described constitutes apreferred form, it is to be understood that other forms may be adoptedfalling within the scope of the claims that follow.

I claim:

1. A ceiling construction comprising in combination:

(A) A plurality of parallelly arranged channel-like runners, eachhaving:

( 1) a pair of parallelly arranged and vertically extending side walls;

(2) parallelly and longitudinally dispose-d flanges extending outwardlyfrom the lower ends, respectively, of the side walls forming upwardlyfacing shoulders;

(3) parallelly and longitudinally disposed flanges extending inwardlyfrom'the lower ends, respectively, of the side walls, forming upwardlyfacing shoulders, the confronting edges of the second mentioned flangesbeing spaced from one another;

(B) sound absorbing tiles, each having a planar underside, each tilehaving opposite edges thereof rabbetted to form downwardly facingshoulders, said shoulders resting directly upon the first mentionedshoulders of adjacent runners;

(C) elongated sound absorbing strips, each strip being rabbettedlengthwise along both side edges thereof to form an upper portion and awider lower portion, said upper portion being disposed, respectively,between a pair of side walls of the runners, said strips having planarundersides throughout the length and width thereof and disposed flushwith the planar surfaces of the tiles, said lower portion of the stripextending below the first and second mentioned flanges and to adjacentthe lower confronting side edges of the tiles;

(D) and means for supporting the strips by the second mentionedshoulders.

2. A ceiling construction as defined in claim 1, characterized in thatthe strips are provided with kerfs and that the means for supporting thestrips comprises:

(D) (1) strips extending into the kerfs, said latter strips resting onthe inwardly extending shoulders.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,963,751 12/1960 Mancini 52-484 3,032,833 5/1962 Stanley 52484 53,053,359 9/1962 Stanley 52-484 4 FOREIGN PATENTS 229,639 9/1954Switzerland.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

J. L. RIDGILL, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CEILING CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (A) A PLURALITY OFPARALLELLY ARRANGED CHANNEL-LIKE RUNNERS, EACH HAVING: (1) A PAIR OFPARALLELLY ARRANGED AND VERTICALLY EXTENDING SIDE WALLS; (2) PARALLELYAND LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED FLANGES EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE LOWERENDS, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE SIDE WALLS FORMING UPWARDLY FACING SHOULDERS;(3) PARALLELLY AND LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED FLANGES EXTENDING INWARDLYFROM THE LOWER ENDS, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE SIDE WALLS, FORMING UPWARDLYFACING SHOULDERS, THE CONFRONTING EDGES OF THE SECOND MENTIONED FLANGESBEING SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER; (B) SOUND ABSORBING TILES, EACH HAVING APLANAR UNDERSIDE, EACH TILE HAVING OPPOSITE EDGES THEREOF RABBETTED TOFORM DOWNWARDLY FACING SHOULDERS, SAID SHOULDERS RESTING DIRECTLY UPONTHE FIRST MENTIONED SHOULDERS OF ADJACENT RUNNERS; (C) ELONGATED SOUNDABSORBING STRIPS, EACH STRIP BEING RABBETTED LENGTHWISE ALONG BOTH SIDEEDGES THEREOF TO FORM AN UPPER PORTION AND A WIDER LOWER PORTION, SAIDUPPER PORTION BEING DISPOSED, RESPECTIVELY, BETWEEN A PAIR OF SIDE WALLSOF THE RUNNERS, SAID STRIPS HAVING PLANAR UNDERSIDES THROUGHOUT THELENGTH AND WIDTH THEREOF AND DISPOSED FLUSH WITH THE PLANAR SURFACES OFTHE TILES, SAID LOWER PORTION OF THE STRIP EXTENDING BELOW THE FIRST ANDSECOND MENTIONED FLANGES AND TO ADJACENT THE LOWER CONFRONTING SIDEEDGES OF THE TILES; (D) AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE STRIPS BY THESECOND MENTIONED SHOULDERS.